Kalaburagi: Disgruntled by the post-sales service of a newly-bought e-scooter, a 26-year-old man in Kanataka’s Kalaburgi set fire to the Ola Electric showroom, police said on Wednesday. Several vehicles in the showroom were charred in the incident and the man has been arrested.
The incident on Tuesday took place amid rising public frustration with servicing at Ola Electric, India’s leading e-scooter manufacturer. Several mechanics have reported that Ola service centers are dealing with significant backlogs and are struggling to manage the high volume of complaints.
Mohammed Nadeem, a mechanic, bought the scooter last month and only a few later, he brought it back to the Ola Electric service center due to facing issues while driving the two-wheeler, Kalaburgi police commissioner said.
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Karnataka: Disgruntled Ola Electric customer allegedly sets showroom on fire, no casualties@moneycontrolcomhttps://t.co/kAuabJGSnM pic.twitter.com/T3VSV5UkUP
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Why Ola showroom was set ablaze
The man claimed he was met with an unsatisfactory response from the company and made multiple trips to the service centre but the issue remained unresolved following which he went to the showroom on Tuesday with a bottle of petrol, poured it on the scooters inside and set them ablaze.
Visuals from the spot showed thick plumes of smoke and flames emanating from the showroom while people stood at a distance. A police personnel was heard dispersing people from the spot. Nobody was injured in the incident.
Fire tenders were called to douse the fire. The showroom incurred losses worth Rs 8.5 lakh in the fire incident. Ola Electric is yet to respond to the incident and the claims made by Nadeem.